Display case



W. B. MORTON.

DISPLAY CASE. APPLICATION FILED AUG. I. 1921.

$30,921, Patented Oct. 3, 1922.

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DISPLAY CASE, APPLICATION FILED AUG.1. 1921.

1,430,921. Patented @011. 3, 1922.

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WILLIAM BUNTING MORTOIKT, OI BLEAYERICE, NEBRASKA.

IDJTSPLl-LY casn.

Application filed August 1, 1921.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, VVILLIAM B. l /lonroiv, a citizen of the UnitedStates residing at Beatrice, in the county of Gage and Potato ofNebraska, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in DisplayCases; and I do hereby declare the followingto be a full, clear, andexact description of the invention, such. as will enable'others' skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and tain improvements to adapta cabinet of I this character for use in connection with the display andsale of cakes, cookies and other .merchandise of alike character.Merchandise ofthis sort is generally put up in tins or receptacles, andis sold directly therefrom such tins having openings to display thegoods and these tins are arranged on shelves in a store wherecustomersmay view the contents and select the goods desired. This isfound to be an unsatisfactory arrange- .ment because when the contentsof the tin are removed to such an extent that the display opening isarrived at, the goods lose their regular appearance and the displaybecomes anything but attractive. Then, again,the sale of goods from tinsof this kind is cumbersome as the tins must be removed from the shelvesand anything but a sanitary effect is presented to the customer.

It is therefore another object of the in vention to provide an improveddisplay case in which the different varieties of merchandise will bedisplayed in separate com.- partments at the front portion of the caseand in which tilt-able bins are provided to resceive the tins containingthe goods in bull: at the back of the case, suitable marks or otherlabels beingmade on the tins to agree with labels in the compartments sothat a selection of goods may be made by the cuscomer according to thelabel.

A further object of the invention resides in providing certainimprovementsv in the Serial No. 488,975.

construction of the case and in the display compartments, and in thearrangement and construction of the tiltable bins.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention will be morefully described hereinafter, and will be more particularlypointed out inthe claims appended hereto.

the drawings, wherein like symbols rerer to like or corresponding partsthroughout the several views,

F 1g. 1 1s a perspective view with parts broken away of an improveddisplay case constructed according to the present invention;

dHg. 2 is a fragmentary cross sectional view with one of the receptaclesopen;

Flg. 3 is a fragmentary rear view of the case,-

l is horizontal sectional view taken on the line 4li inhig. 2;

F 5 is a plan view of a label employed.

F 1g. 6 is a perspective view of one of the metallic strips.

Referring more particularly to the drawngs the case involves the use ofa cabinet construction which is divided longitudinally by number ofuprights 1 and suitable parts secured thereto. the front upper portionof the case are a number of shelves 2 arrz'inged in stepped relation andhaving; backs or risers 3 against which are placed mirrors l to reflectand give a doubled impression of the goods on display on the shelves 2.

End walls 5 are provided at the end portions of the cabinet and shelvesand if desired division boards or walls 6 may be provided atsuitablepoints in parallel relation with theend walls 5. These division walls orboards 6 sub-divide the display portion of the case into a series ofcompartments one .above the other and extending in. horizontal rows,1andas many of these compartments as are desired may be provided to accommodate a large or small store of cookies or other goods.

The merchandise is held upon the shelves 2 and prevented from fallingdown upon a sub-adjacent shelf by the use of transparent walls 7. Thesewalls are preferably glass strips being relatively low, and beingtransparent they do not interfere with the dis play of the goods. Boththe mirrors l and the glass strips 7 are preferably held in place by theuse of metallic strips 8 having perforations 9 at suitable points toreceive fastenings by which the strips8 are secured to the end walls 5and the division boards 6. Flanges 10 are turned over at the rear endsof the metallic strips 8 and take against the mirrors A pair of tongues11 and 12 is turned at right angles to the plane of each strip 8 at theforward end thereof, and a central claw 13 is also bent from thematerial of the strip 8 inwardly of the tongues 11 and 12. The claw 13is thus received as indicated in Fig. at upon the inner surface of theglass wall 7, while the tongues 11 and 12 engage the outer side thereof.These strips 8 are supplied at each end of each compartment and theytherefore effectively hold both the mirrors a against the back walls 3and the glass walls 7 in proper alignment and position against the frontedges of the shelves 2.

A glass enclosing plate 14 fits over the various compartments and issupported for instance in a board 15 extending along the lowermost shelf2 and at its upper end in the forward projecting edge portion of a shelf16. Preferably felt or other suitable material 17 and 18 is providedalong the or ges of the glass plate 14:. The glass plate is alsosupported by the edges of the end walls 5 and division boards 6.

Beneath the display compartments is provided a relatively large spacefor the re ceipt of package goods. This space is closed on its rear by apanel 19 lying against the uprights or structures 1. A base 20 isprovided for the compartment and end walls 21 enclose the same. Ifdesired, corner strips 22 may be placed in conjunction with the endwalls 21 in order to' help support the shelving above and make for astronger construction.

fit the rear of the case, a number of partitions 23 is provided throughwhich extend rods 24 providing for the pivotal support of bins 25. Thesebins are separated by the partitions 23 and are of a shallow construction to receive the base portions of receptacles or tins 26 of thecakes, cookies or other merchandise on sale. The bins 25 are providedwith cut-out slots 27 in their forward lower portions to receive therods 24 and to have detachable engagement therewith to permit of thelifting out of the bins when required.

The rear portions of the bins rest upon beams 28 extending between thepartitions 23. Stops 29 are provided upon the partitions 23 in positionto catch the upper edges of the bins when swung forwardly as indicatedin the lower portion of Fig. 2. These steps 29 are preferably smallstrips of wood or other material having means to secure them to thepartitions 23 and lying in contact with an extensive edge surface of thebins when raised. The bins are all preferably numbered as indicated at30 in Fig. 3 in order to correspond with numbers shown on display backsor labels 31 illustrated more particularly in Fig. 5 and placed in eachof the display compartments.

These labels identify the goods in the dis play compartments by numbersand the bins containing like numbers enables the customer to order bynumber from the display and the clerk to fill the order from the binsbehind the counter without interfering with the display or subjectingthe customer to the impropriety of witnessing the removal of the goodsfrom the tins 26 and their pack- The tags or labels 31 also containnames of the goods and may also contain the price thereof.

In use, a customer at the front portion of the case may view through theglass 6 the various different articles on display and having made aselection communicates the number thereof to the clerk behind thecounter who serves the customer from the tin of the corresponding bin.The arrangement of the bins enables a clerk to swing the receptacle 26forwardly to a position where the relative location of the pivot rod 24and the stop 29 permits of gravity holding the parts in'this forwardlytilting position until pushed backwardly.

The lid of the tin is swung upwardly as indicated in Fig. 2 to exposethe contents and it will be noted that the bins are arranged in aterraced disposition so that the lid may be raised against the upper binand may be swung suiliciently far to enable the lid to remain openwithout putting this burden continually upon the clerk. The arrangementis such that the contents of the receptacle 26 may be exposed for adesired interval without any attention of the clerk, which leaves theclerk free to remove the contents with one hand while he holds a sack orbag in the other to receive same.

The mirrors 4. of course create an impression of a large display of thearticles and the glass walls 7 prevent the articles from escaping out ofplace or on to lower shelves while at the same time not obscuring thearticles in the forward portion. If the glass 6 is removed, the wall 7may be moved upwardly for the purpose of cleaning, polishing orreplacement. 7 I

Package goods are adapted to be placed on the bottom 20 in the enlargeddisplay space beneath the compartments, and in the tray 16 at the top ofthe cabinet, such package goods being suitably labeled and priced fromwhich customers may help themselves 125 and subsequently pay for same ata cashiers booth, for instance near the exit.

It will thus be appreciated that the improved cabinet constitutes both aself service vending case, and a display and separate bin structure fromwhich merchandise is sold while the displays remain constantly in thesame attractive position and are not touched or tampered with in anywise on the making of a sale.

It is obvious that various changes and modifications may be made in thedetails of construction and design of the above specifically describedembodiment of this invention Without departing from the spirit thereof,such changes and modifications being restricted only by the scope of thefollowing claim.

What is claimed is A display case comprising separate bins forcontaining different varieties of goods, a front portion having shelvesdivided into compartments for containing the various goods on display,strips lying in said compartments at the sides thereof, each striphaving claws at the front edge thereof with a tongue spaced from saidclaws, and trans parent strips engaged between the claws and tongues andlocated at the front portion of the compartments.

WILLIAM BUNTING MORTON.

